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Brian Sampson's and Unshackle Upstate's views in the essay on June 21, "Still waiting on mandate relief" had so much wrong.

Sampson cited the Triborough requirement to maintain the status quo, instead of cutting wages for teachers and support staff when a contract expires, as if eliminating this would improve education. The evidence of the last 60 years supports the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education's ruling, where the operative ruling was, "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." When people of good will demand an end to segregating the poor in urban centers in their own school district instead of 18 separate and unequal governments and school districts, only then will we see better educational outcomes and tax relief.

Sampson also attacks project labor agreements and the Scaffold Law as costly unfunded mandates. PLAs, also known as community service agreements, have been found by every credible study to provide living wages and save taxpayers money. They cannot discriminate by law, require local and minority labor, and in this state require an independent study to prove savings before a PLA is agreed to.

As for the Scaffold Law, labor will not agree to any reforms without transparency. Business demanding an end to the Scaffold Law without seeing the actual insurance payouts versus premiums is irresponsible and threatens workers' safety. The fact these insurance companies have refused to open their books to justify their rates is shameful and suspect.

However, Mr. Sampson, we are concerned with unfunded mandates, like over $7 billion in state corporate welfare again in our state budget with no improvement in poverty or wealth inequality. Or the unfunded mandates of billions of tax dollars to subsidize the poverty wages paid by the billion dollar retail and fast food industries. Retail workers and food workers are demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage and the right to unionize and collectively bargain. Let us not forget the unfunded tax cuts to the wealthy and the unfunded mandates given to Wall Street.

When 95 percent of the wealth workers have created since the start of the recession in 2007 has gone to the top 1 percent, few are buying what Unshackle is selling.